Apple releases new iPhone... lower prices

This is WWDC week at Apple and they announced a new iPhone as well as lower pricing and a new iPhone OS (for iPhone and iPod Touch) at the start of the week... for a quick summary see here:

http://www.ilounge.com/index.php/news/comments/iphone-3g-iphone-3g-s-iphone-30-news-a-quick-summary/

The new iPhone 3GS is faster and has more memory and a better camera. They've dropped the pricing for the older models too...

http://www.ilounge.com/index.php/news/comments/rogers-reveals-canadian-iphone-3g-s-pricing/

The iPhone 3G will be $99 come June 19th. A price that may make some fence sitters jump off and get in on the game.

I don't have one... but this certainly has my interest now. I do have an iPod Touch and it's freaking amazing.

Not me. I'm a cheap B*stard. All my phones have been free with the renewal of my Telus contracts.

Yeah, the killer with the iPhone is the monthly fee you end up paying... and you're locked in for 3 years...

Cap'n Clutch wrote:Not me. I'm a cheap B*stard. All my phones have been free with the renewal of my Telus contracts.

I bought a pay-as-you-go phone from Petro Canada. They use Rogers' network and the phone is GSM, unlocked. Meaning that if I go to to the US, I just pick up a pre-paid SIM card from Wal*Mart when I get there, plug it in and done. No number portability, but when I'm on vacation I don't really want to be bothered. And I can always make one call to my family/friends and tell them the new number I can be reached at. Saves a ton on monthly contracts (PetroCan lets you top up $50 for six months, or $100 for a year) and I don't ever worry about roaming charges. Calls are 20 cents per minute in Canada, all the time. I hardly use the phone,a nd never text, so I can get by with $100 per year.

wprager wrote:I hardly use the phone,a nd never text, so I can get by with $100 per year.

Impressive! The iPhone is not for you.

iPhone OS 3.0 goes live tomorrow...

wprager wrote:

Cap'n Clutch wrote:Not me. I'm a cheap B*stard. All my phones have been free with the renewal of my Telus contracts.

I bought a pay-as-you-go phone from Petro Canada. They use Rogers' network and the phone is GSM, unlocked. Meaning that if I go to to the US, I just pick up a pre-paid SIM card from Wal*Mart when I get there, plug it in and done. No number portability, but when I'm on vacation I don't really want to be bothered. And I can always make one call to my family/friends and tell them the new number I can be reached at. Saves a ton on monthly contracts (PetroCan lets you top up $50 for six months, or $100 for a year) and I don't ever worry about roaming charges. Calls are 20 cents per minute in Canada, all the time. I hardly use the phone,a nd never text, so I can get by with $100 per year.

If it works for you, it works. I use my iPhone an ungodly amount everyday to be honest. I could never survive on such a bare-bones cell plan.

shabbs wrote:iPhone OS 3.0 goes live tomorrow...

I have to wait until our friends at hackint0sh can unlock the new OS before I update my phone...which I hope is much sooner than later.

PKC wrote:

shabbs wrote:iPhone OS 3.0 goes live tomorrow...

I have to wait until our friends at hackint0sh can unlock the new OS before I update my phone...which I hope is much sooner than later.

The beta versions were already unlocked, so this one shouldn't take too long.

Did you have much trouble doing it? and was it really worth it?
(I use mine mainly for email/browsing/text, with the kids having installed a ton of free games. If an app is good enough, I don't mind paying, but so few have even caught my attention that I've been hesitant to try to jailbreak mine...)

Acrobat wrote:

PKC wrote:

shabbs wrote:iPhone OS 3.0 goes live tomorrow...

I have to wait until our friends at hackint0sh can unlock the new OS before I update my phone...which I hope is much sooner than later.

The beta versions were already unlocked, so this one shouldn't take too long.

Did you have much trouble doing it? and was it really worth it?
(I use mine mainly for email/browsing/text, with the kids having installed a ton of free games. If an app is good enough, I don't mind paying, but so few have even caught my attention that I've been hesitant to try to jailbreak mine...)

Well I had an original iPhone about three months after they launched in the States, bought it off eBay, and I've been jailbreaking and unlocking them, using their various methods since then.

To be honest, they are making them easier to do now. The guides are really easy and the installations almost do themselves now. You'd have to be seriously computer illiterate to mess it up.

I am thinking about picking up the new iPhone when they are released. I just spoke to Rogers and they will be having launch days specials. I think I will just bite the bullet and buy one. Plans are pricey but when a company has a monopoly, it is hard to shop around.

ElliottRules wrote:I am thinking about picking up the new iPhone when they are released. I just spoke to Rogers and they will be having launch days specials. I think I will just bite the bullet and buy one. Plans are pricey but when a company has a monopoly, it is hard to shop around.

What sort of specials?

He didn't have the information yet and he said that Rogers won't release it until Friday morning. I am going to contact the call centre on Friday and see what they are offering. I don't think it will be much but they could at least wave the $35.00 connection fee.

ElliottRules wrote:I am thinking about picking up the new iPhone when they are released. I just spoke to Rogers and they will be having launch days specials. I think I will just bite the bullet and buy one. Plans are pricey but when a company has a monopoly, it is hard to shop around.

They have the $30/6GB per month data plan special. That's one that I know of.

PKC wrote:

ElliottRules wrote:I am thinking about picking up the new iPhone when they are released. I just spoke to Rogers and they will be having launch days specials. I think I will just bite the bullet and buy one. Plans are pricey but when a company has a monopoly, it is hard to shop around.

They have the $30/6GB per month data plan special. That's one that I know of.

Fido also has the iPhone; I believe the plan is similar though.

I have one already with the $30/6G plan - the most I've ever used is about 1G (and I have no problem handing it to my kids to let them stream YouTube videos [supervised, of course], or to stream music over the net). I think they also have $25/3G and $20/1G tiers, but I don't remember exactly.

The thing about the new one is that it will allow tethering - and they aren't going to restrict it until at least the end of 2009. I think they want to see how much this feature is used before they decide how they will handle it.

I'll probably upgrade my wife's phone to the new iPhone, then see if I can weasel my way into getting the new one myself once I've accumulated enough "spend". Kids will be happy, but our bank account won't.